Tang Yong Jian (centre), a Chinese national, stands guarded inside the dock at the Makadara Law courts in Kenya's capital Nairobi, Jan 28, 2014. A court in Kenya on Tuesday slapped a record sentence on a Chinese ivory smuggler, the first person to be convicted under tough new laws designed to stem a surge in poaching. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

NAIROBI (AFP) - A court in Kenya on Tuesday slapped a record sentence on a Chinese ivory smuggler, the first person to be convicted under tough new laws designed to stem a surge in poaching.

Tang Yong Jian, 40, was ordered to pay 20 million shillings (S$297,400) or go to jail for seven years.

He was arrested last week carrying an ivory tusk weighing 3.4kg in a suitcase while in transit from Mozambique to China via Nairobi, and pleaded guily to the charges. He has 14 days to appeal the sentence.

A spokesman for the Kenya Wildlife Service, which manages the country's celebrated national parks, said the ruling would give a much-needed boost to wildlife protection efforts.